LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association and the Illinois Softball Coaches Association (ISCA) have partnered in a joint membership initiative, announced the NFCA on Thursday afternoon.
Behind a collaborative effort by Mark Petryniec (Huntley HS) and Dwain Nance (Marengo Community HS), the initiative allows a head coach, who pays their individual or group ISCA membership fee, to receive a head coach membership with the NFCA.
"We are very excited to have this partnership with the NFCA,” said Nance. The NFCA is a well established organization with outstanding leadership and offers an unbelievable amount of resources. Our coaches at the state level will now have access to these resources.”
It will continue to grow the NFCA’s High School membership, a longtime goal of the Association, but more importantly it presents Illinois high school coaches and their student-athletes the opportunity to have access to NFCA education, awards, events, networking opportunities and Convention scholarships. In turn, the ISCA is making a financial commitment to their softball coaches, which opens the door for the NFCA to assist them in their quest for excellence.
Additionally, any coach who participates in the new joint membership will receive an educational softball video bundle package of their choice ($50 value).
“The Illinois Softball Coaches Association is able to offer more to our coaches across the state, which in return will help our student-athletes,” said Nance. We want to thank the NFCA for this cooperation and we look forward to continuing to grow the sport and membership."
The ISCA is the second Association to take advantage of this initiative, as the Missouri High School Fastpitch Coaches Association (MHSFCA) and NFCA High School Board Rep Kristi Williams paved the way for other state associations.
“We were excited to see what Missouri had done with the NFCA joint membership and the MHSFCA and getting Illinois on board with the same idea,” said Petryniec. “It’s a great opportunity for coaches in our state to expand their knowledge base by belonging to two fantastic organizations.”
If your state association would like to partner with the NFCA please contact NFCA Marketing Manager and High School liaison Saralyn Campbell at saralyn@nfca.org and Director of Membership, Paula Blumenschein at paula@nfca.org.
Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2023, the NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) is the professional organization for fastpitch softball coaches. Known for its highly-regarded coaches polls and All-America awards, the NFCA also educates and supports softball coaches on a variety of different levels: from webinars to a comprehensive drills database, to in-person events and National Convention.
Learn more about the NFCA and consider joining our lineup of coaches today! In November 2022, for the first time in Association history, the NFCA surpassed 6,500 members.
